The Case of the Climbing Cat (High-Rise Private Eyes, No. 2)

From School Library Journal Grade 1-3-This new easy-reader series features detectives and best friends Bunny Brown and raccoon Jack Jones. In Monkey, someone has taken a glass monkey figurine from the cash-register counter at the diner where Bunny and Jack eat breakfast. After observing the morning regulars, the clever rabbit comes up with reasons to eliminate most suspects and narrows down the accused to only one, allowing readers to follow her reasoning step by step. In Cat, Bunny is trying to get an acrophobic Jack up to her 21st-floor balcony when they are interrupted by Miss Nancy's scream of "Thief!" Again readers witness the sleuth's deductive reasoning as she quickly comes to the appropriate conclusion. Each case is presented in four chapters that set the scene, describe the circumstances, and offer suspects or clues and a solution. The full-color illustrations, rendered in acrylic, gouache, and pencil, capture the cartoonlike animals' animated expressions and poses, particularly of the two detectives as they engage in their frequent friendly banter. Children will enjoy searching the pages for the reported clues and will surely look forward to future installments.